Relocating from Chicago -- Neighborhood Recommendations in DC, MD and VA?

[donewithchicago]

Anonymous wrote:This is "Relocated a couple of years ago"

We like it so far. It's a lot different. We had always lived very close to downtown and that level of urban density doesn't really exist in residential areas here -- even in the district. I do like that in the SS/TP (Mont. Co) area where we are we have the mix of being able to walk to movies, restaurants, library, whole foods, some shops, and metro, while also being in a place where the kids can ride down to friends' houses with no problem. That's different for us (kids riding unsupervised in Chicago was a nono -- all those cars jumping out of alleys). Also having grass is a novelty. We think of where we are as a little like Evanston if Evanston were a little more like Rogers Park. The weather is great -- short winter and where we are it's easy access to bike trails to explore with the kids -- also you can get to a lot more interesting nature pretty quickly than in Chicago.

We're in MoCo and the schools are a lot better than CPS across the county. CPS had some decent neighborhood schools, especially at the elementary level (Bell comes to mind -- I think you mentioned Roscoe V), but as you moved up the ladder things got tougher and the magnet competition became fierce. I know a lot of folks who bolted CPS at middle school. Here, from everyone I have talked to there is generally good feeling about the schools in MoCo up and down. People will dig on some of the "clusters" or "pyramids" -- I'm still not clear on terminology but basically it's the schools that funnel up to a specific high school. I live near the Einstein and Blair clusters (those are the high schools) and folks seem to favor Blair, but then I have heard from a number of people that Einstein has its benefits because it's more challenging course selections aren't as overwhelmed. Something like, very very hard to get a spot in Blair's IB program, but easier at Einstein. Also, Einstein is stronger arts, Blair is more math and science (what I was told -- not first hand for me yet). The middle schools seem ok -- I find that middle school is always tough, just that age is challenging. Some have more struggles than others -- but the best thing there is to maybe find a realtor who can get you in touch with people at different schools -- for middle school I think first hand experience is always best. Elementary schools, like in most large school systems, are the best quality tier. It's pretty easy to find a good ES in your price point.

I'd say drive around a little and get a feel for different areas. It'll become pretty obvious pretty quickly how different it is and what aligns more with your past experiences and with what you might be looking for now. As I mentioned, we felt more comfortable on the DC line on the SS/TP side -- just made sense for us. Bethesda was a little too clean for us (I know that makes no sense, but whatever) and it's really expensive. We could have swung it but it felt like moving to Winnetka, which wasn't what we were looking for. DC itself was indistinguishable from Bethesda in some areas (which was interesting) and in other areas I just felt i didn't know enough to confidently pick a transitional neighborhood (we were native Chicagoans, so we had a lifetime of experience to draw on). We never checked Virginia -- just didn't seem like it was worth our time given what we were looking for, plus I didn't want to be looking forever.

This response is so perfect!! Thank you!!!!

[Anonymous]

People can get kind of picky about being in DC. But for comparison purposes, DC is 68 square miles and Chicago is 234, so you can live outside DC and still feel like you're part of the action.

This is a cool little map.

http://www.governing.com/gov-data/census/Land-Area-for-US-Cities.html

[Anonymous]

donewithchicago wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So you're moving here, but won't have commutes? Move as far out as you can. With that budget, you won't be getting much close-in and it doesn't seem necessary.

Which then begs the question, why bother moving at all? Higher cost of living, not higher income.

Higher cost of living for a better quality region.

I am a Midwesterner and I have lived in the DC area for over 10 years. I am also very familiar with Chicago. You may be deluding yourself a little about this being a "better quality region." I want to warn you that it is very, very expensive and what you actually get for all of that expense really is not much. Unlike Chicago, there is very little supply with respect to housing. In areas with "good schools," tiny little houses with low ceilings that most people in Chicago would not touch with a 10 foot pole cost over a million dollars in certain close in areas. Can't afford that? Well, then you have to live in sketchier parts of the city and deal with bad schools or you have to live really far out and spend your life in traffic. Also, you can't get reasonably priced private/Catholic schools like you can in Chicago. The absolute minimum is 10K per year, but most are 20-40K per year. Daycare for one child can cost upwards of 2K per month. There are waitlists for everything, daycares, preschools, swimming lessons, classes, etc. Also, unlike Chicago, which is more spread out, there are way too many people packed into a relatively small area, so there is constant competition for everything, I mean everything. All of this causes people to become very crabby and unpleasant on a regular basis. And this is made worse by the fact that the area is already populated with more than its fair share of type A climbers who would step on their own grandmothers to get ahead. It is very difficult to make friends because there is still a lot of transience and many reserved people who keep to themselves.

I don't know what your financial situation is OP, but I can tell you that your housing budget of 575K, while great for Chicago, will not get you a lot of desireable choices here. It is a very, very tough place to live, and especially to raise kids, if you are a regular middle or upper middle class person. I am sure that people on this thread will blast me for saying that and tell you that I am wrong, and talk about how great it is, but I can guarantee you that many of those people are either very wealthy, have trust funds or family help, or bought their homes 30 years ago. I wish you the best, OP, but with your housing budget and your list of desires, you may want to reconsider. If you do move here, though, I hope that things work out for the best. Not to scare you, I just thought that you should come into this area with your eyes wide open. Wish someone would have done me this favor before I moved here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

donewithchicago wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So you're moving here, but won't have commutes? Move as far out as you can. With that budget, you won't be getting much close-in and it doesn't seem necessary.

Which then begs the question, why bother moving at all? Higher cost of living, not higher income.

Higher cost of living for a better quality region.

I am a Midwesterner and I have lived in the DC area for over 10 years. I am also very familiar with Chicago. You may be deluding yourself a little about this being a "better quality region." I want to warn you that it is very, very expensive and what you actually get for all of that expense really is not much. Unlike Chicago, there is very little supply with respect to housing. In areas with "good schools," tiny little houses with low ceilings that most people in Chicago would not touch with a 10 foot pole cost over a million dollars in certain close in areas. Can't afford that? Well, then you have to live in sketchier parts of the city and deal with bad schools or you have to live really far out and spend your life in traffic. Also, you can't get reasonably priced private/Catholic schools like you can in Chicago. The absolute minimum is 10K per year, but most are 20-40K per year. Daycare for one child can cost upwards of 2K per month. There are waitlists for everything, daycares, preschools, swimming lessons, classes, etc. Also, unlike Chicago, which is more spread out, there are way too many people packed into a relatively small area, so there is constant competition for everything, I mean everything. All of this causes people to become very crabby and unpleasant on a regular basis. And this is made worse by the fact that the area is already populated with more than its fair share of type A climbers who would step on their own grandmothers to get ahead. It is very difficult to make friends because there is still a lot of transience and many reserved people who keep to themselves.

I don't know what your financial situation is OP, but I can tell you that your housing budget of 575K, while great for Chicago, will not get you a lot of desireable choices here. It is a very, very tough place to live, and especially to raise kids, if you are a regular middle or upper middle class person. I am sure that people on this thread will blast me for saying that and tell you that I am wrong, and talk about how great it is, but I can guarantee you that many of those people are either very wealthy, have trust funds or family help, or bought their homes 30 years ago. I wish you the best, OP, but with your housing budget and your list of desires, you may want to reconsider. If you do move here, though, I hope that things work out for the best. Not to scare you, I just thought that you should come into this area with your eyes wide open. Wish someone would have done me this favor before I moved here.

Sigh. I've lived in the DC area my whole life and have to say, this post is pretty spot on. How far out can you go? Consider Howard County.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:First, DC is not like Chicago. Apples and oranges. Here are your options:

You can up your budget and live in the city in a rowhouse - and compromise schools or go private.

You can live close-in in somewhere that's still a little funky like Del Ray, TP, or SS - and compromise schools or go private.

You can up your budget (a lot) and live in Arlington or Bethesda - both have good schools.

Or you can move to the suburbs. You will have your good schools, and you can drive to DC, but you'll probably realize that's a pain in he ass and spend all your time close to home.

All of the bolded above are suburbs. haha.

[Anonymous]

OP, if you make $400K, then you're not going to want to live in a $575K house. And in DC $575K won't buy you a SFH, unless it's a really bad neighborhood. It won't even buy you a townhouse in a decent neighborhood. It might buy you a small 2 bedroom condo in a decent neighborhood, but you won't have good schools.

$575K will buy you a teardown in a decent close in suburb. And that decent suburb will look like the ghetto compared to the nice places you are used to.

Like others here - I would caution you from moving into DC. This place has a high cost of living, and I don't think it has more to offer than Chicago.. unless you're into politics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:First, DC is not like Chicago. Apples and oranges. Here are your options:

You can up your budget and live in the city in a rowhouse - and compromise schools or go private.

You can live close-in in somewhere that's still a little funky like Del Ray, TP, or SS - and compromise schools or go private.

You can up your budget (a lot) and live in Arlington or Bethesda - both have good schools.

Or you can move to the suburbs. You will have your good schools, and you can drive to DC, but you'll probably realize that's a pain in he ass and spend all your time close to home.

All of the bolded above are suburbs. haha.

Yeah, I already addressed that. haha.

It think parts of the close-in suburbs I named are fairly urban feeling and that someone wanting an urban lifestyle would be fine with them. DC is a bunch of neighborhoods anyway - with no skyscrapers to give you that city feel. But I should have said "far-out" suburbs.

[Anonymous]

OP, I will not caution you about moving here because I love my life here. It is expansive, My TH cost me 1.2+ in a desirable area. We chose the least sought after school pyramid in our hood by choice and are very happy with it. The cost of living is higher but you get generally great schools, weather, internationally aware population, good restaurants, outdoorsy, scenic, many recreational opportunities, kids friendly (excellent community services for kids) and more. Here's what I don't like, you don't get much housing for the price, traffic is terrible during rush hour, a lot times during non rush hour, I've seen better public transport. And for all those people telling you "don't move here it's terrible," ask yourself this, why haven't they left? I know, because of their 'jobs.' People are mostly frustrated here because of housing affordability not because of luck of appeal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I will not caution you about moving here because I love my life here. It is expansive, My TH cost me 1.2+ in a desirable area. We chose the least sought after school pyramid in our hood by choice and are very happy with it. The cost of living is higher but you get generally great schools, weather, internationally aware population, good restaurants, outdoorsy, scenic, many recreational opportunities, kids friendly (excellent community services for kids) and more. Here's what I don't like, you don't get much housing for the price, traffic is terrible during rush hour, a lot times during non rush hour, I've seen better public transport. And for all those people telling you "don't move here it's terrible," ask yourself this, why haven't they left? I know, because of their 'jobs.' People are mostly frustrated here because of housing affordability not because of luck of appeal.

Key words here, PP's home cost 1.2 million. OP's budget is half that, so her experience will not be the same.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I will not caution you about moving here because I love my life here. It is expansive, My TH cost me 1.2+ in a desirable area. We chose the least sought after school pyramid in our hood by choice and are very happy with it. The cost of living is higher but you get generally great schools, weather, internationally aware population, good restaurants, outdoorsy, scenic, many recreational opportunities, kids friendly (excellent community services for kids) and more. Here's what I don't like, you don't get much housing for the price, traffic is terrible during rush hour, a lot times during non rush hour, I've seen better public transport. And for all those people telling you "don't move here it's terrible," ask yourself this, why haven't they left? I know, because of their 'jobs.' People are mostly frustrated here because of housing affordability not because of luck of appeal.

DC definitely has a lot of good things going for it, but weather isn't one of them. Fall is beautiful, but winters are not great. I've been here for 12 years, and although we've had some crazy snow storms, it's usually 4 months of depressing grey days with freezing rain. Spring is nice, but sucks because of allergies and lasts about 1 week. Summers are usually brutally hot and humid.

Yup, and as others have mentioned. I'm stuck here because of my job. And husband's family. My job only exists in high COL areas, so I'm either here in DC, LA, or San Fran.

As for appeal, you have to weigh the appeal with the cost. And I personally don't think DC is worth it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I will not caution you about moving here because I love my life here. It is expansive, My TH cost me 1.2+ in a desirable area. We chose the least sought after school pyramid in our hood by choice and are very happy with it. The cost of living is higher but you get generally great schools, weather, internationally aware population, good restaurants, outdoorsy, scenic, many recreational opportunities, kids friendly (excellent community services for kids) and more. Here's what I don't like, you don't get much housing for the price, traffic is terrible during rush hour, a lot times during non rush hour, I've seen better public transport. And for all those people telling you "don't move here it's terrible," ask yourself this, why haven't they left? I know, because of their 'jobs.' People are mostly frustrated here because of housing affordability not because of luck of appeal.

There is a night and day difference in the DC area between having a budget of over a million, as this PP does, and having a budget well under a million, as OP does. Case in point, it is largely wealthy people who think that this is an easy place to live. And, by the way, all of the attributes this PP mentioned about DC (other than the weather) can be found in Chicago, in fact they are probably better there. At least the food certainly is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, if you make $400K, then you're not going to want to live in a $575K house. And in DC $575K won't buy you a SFH, unless it's a really bad neighborhood. It won't even buy you a townhouse in a decent neighborhood. It might buy you a small 2 bedroom condo in a decent neighborhood, but you won't have good schools.

$575K will buy you a teardown in a decent close in suburb. And that decent suburb will look like the ghetto compared to the nice places you are used to.

Like others here - I would caution you from moving into DC. This place has a high cost of living, and I don't think it has more to offer than Chicago.. unless you're into politics.

$575 will buy you a house in Pimmit hills. I really like it here. But, you'd only have 1500 sq feet or less. Every store and food option imagine able is within 1- 2 miles. I mean everything. But like PPS said, it's very expensive in the DC area generally. You won't have tons of housing options. It's a tough place to be in some ways. Harder to meet people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

donewithchicago wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So you're moving here, but won't have commutes? Move as far out as you can. With that budget, you won't be getting much close-in and it doesn't seem necessary.

Which then begs the question, why bother moving at all? Higher cost of living, not higher income.

Higher cost of living for a better quality region.

I am a Midwesterner and I have lived in the DC area for over 10 years. I am also very familiar with Chicago. You may be deluding yourself a little about this being a "better quality region." I want to warn you that it is very, very expensive and what you actually get for all of that expense really is not much. Unlike Chicago, there is very little supply with respect to housing. In areas with "good schools," tiny little houses with low ceilings that most people in Chicago would not touch with a 10 foot pole cost over a million dollars in certain close in areas. Can't afford that? Well, then you have to live in sketchier parts of the city and deal with bad schools or you have to live really far out and spend your life in traffic. Also, you can't get reasonably priced private/Catholic schools like you can in Chicago. The absolute minimum is 10K per year, but most are 20-40K per year. Daycare for one child can cost upwards of 2K per month. There are waitlists for everything, daycares, preschools, swimming lessons, classes, etc. Also, unlike Chicago, which is more spread out, there are way too many people packed into a relatively small area, so there is constant competition for everything, I mean everything. All of this causes people to become very crabby and unpleasant on a regular basis. And this is made worse by the fact that the area is already populated with more than its fair share of type A climbers who would step on their own grandmothers to get ahead. It is very difficult to make friends because there is still a lot of transience and many reserved people who keep to themselves.

I don't know what your financial situation is OP, but I can tell you that your housing budget of 575K, while great for Chicago, will not get you a lot of desireable choices here. It is a very, very tough place to live, and especially to raise kids, if you are a regular middle or upper middle class person. I am sure that people on this thread will blast me for saying that and tell you that I am wrong, and talk about how great it is, but I can guarantee you that many of those people are either very wealthy, have trust funds or family help, or bought their homes 30 years ago. I wish you the best, OP, but with your housing budget and your list of desires, you may want to reconsider. If you do move here, though, I hope that things work out for the best. Not to scare you, I just thought that you should come into this area with your eyes wide open. Wish someone would have done me this favor before I moved here.

I agree with this. Over the last 8 years, people have moved to DC in droves b/c of the economy, adding to an already very full city. I lived in Chicago for 4 years and have friends who moved here from there. They say, Chicago is more like Baltimore. DC is VERY expensive. You do get things for what you pay for -- it is safe here, mostly, the schools are good, your job will probably continue. But the housing is a shock to most everyone. $575 is an older TH in a nicer area. Many people live far out in the suburbs and just suck it up with the traffic. DT DC is either sketchy or expensive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

donewithchicago wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So you're moving here, but won't have commutes? Move as far out as you can. With that budget, you won't be getting much close-in and it doesn't seem necessary.

Which then begs the question, why bother moving at all? Higher cost of living, not higher income.

Higher cost of living for a better quality region.

I am a Midwesterner and I have lived in the DC area for over 10 years. I am also very familiar with Chicago. You may be deluding yourself a little about this being a "better quality region." I want to warn you that it is very, very expensive and what you actually get for all of that expense really is not much. Unlike Chicago, there is very little supply with respect to housing. In areas with "good schools," tiny little houses with low ceilings that most people in Chicago would not touch with a 10 foot pole cost over a million dollars in certain close in areas. Can't afford that? Well, then you have to live in sketchier parts of the city and deal with bad schools or you have to live really far out and spend your life in traffic. Also, you can't get reasonably priced private/Catholic schools like you can in Chicago. The absolute minimum is 10K per year, but most are 20-40K per year. Daycare for one child can cost upwards of 2K per month. There are waitlists for everything, daycares, preschools, swimming lessons, classes, etc. Also, unlike Chicago, which is more spread out, there are way too many people packed into a relatively small area, so there is constant competition for everything, I mean everything. All of this causes people to become very crabby and unpleasant on a regular basis. And this is made worse by the fact that the area is already populated with more than its fair share of type A climbers who would step on their own grandmothers to get ahead. It is very difficult to make friends because there is still a lot of transience and many reserved people who keep to themselves.

I don't know what your financial situation is OP, but I can tell you that your housing budget of 575K, while great for Chicago, will not get you a lot of desireable choices here. It is a very, very tough place to live, and especially to raise kids, if you are a regular middle or upper middle class person. I am sure that people on this thread will blast me for saying that and tell you that I am wrong, and talk about how great it is, but I can guarantee you that many of those people are either very wealthy, have trust funds or family help, or bought their homes 30 years ago. I wish you the best, OP, but with your housing budget and your list of desires, you may want to reconsider. If you do move here, though, I hope that things work out for the best. Not to scare you, I just thought that you should come into this area with your eyes wide open. Wish someone would have done me this favor before I moved here.

+1000. Spot on.

[Anonymous]

There are waitlists for everything, daycares, preschools, swimming lessons, classes, etc. Also, unlike Chicago, which is more spread out, there are way too many people packed into a relatively small area, so there is constant competition for everything, I mean everything. All of this causes people to become very crabby and unpleasant on a regular basis. And this is made worse by the fact that the area is already populated with more than its fair share of type A climbers who would step on their own grandmothers to get ahead. It is very difficult to make friends because there is still a lot of transience and many reserved people who keep to themselves.

This is a pretty accurate description. The waitlist for EVERYTHING drives me nuts.